On Tuesday, November 19th 2013 8pm Columbus on line auctions held an auction of Kahiki items.
There were about 108 different things in this auction stuff like chairs, tiki,and one light ect...
The grand total from this sale was $41,359.41 AND Add a 10% buyers premium on top of that!
Fee to seller was 25%.
I got many calls about this auction and knew that...
A. stuff would sell for high dollar,and
B. I would not be bidding.
Some of these items I did not know where they came from.
But some of the mystery came to light when I went to see Soung from the Kahiki as he filled me in
on a few questions I had.
The first mystery was what's up with the brass horse?(There was a 4 foot brass horse in the sale)
It sold for $1650,00 Soung said it was in Michael Tsao's office you see mr Tsao was born in the year of the
Horse,(Chinese Zodiac Animal) I have heard Mr. Tsao say he was a "maverick" before.
This is the only item the person who won this horse got from this auction. (I would hope this went to one of his two sons)
So this may answer that mystery.

More to come....

Here is the description of said item from sale trying to find photo....
"Vintage bronze-over brass, Large Rearing Horse Sculpture. Removed from the original Kahiki many years ago. Rubbing the ear or the legs of the horse was thought to bring good luck to the guest. Part of the magical mystery that the founders of the Kahiki instilled at its inception. A beautiful patina has settled on this vintage piece. You can feel the energy as you as you wonder at the many hands, both famous delegates and stars as well as countless local residences alike. Our research shows this to be similar to other such castings that are reportedly "from the Japanese Meiji Period." "
Best photo I have for now.

So next up is this "Chinese Elder Sculpture with Child" What the heck is this?
This thing was 52 1/2 inches tall and had a "Gold tone finish"

So I ask Soung and he gave me that you dumb a$$ you don't know where that was look, a look I
get to see from him all too often.
And he tells me it was on TOP OF THE BAR! Man if that old Chinese Elder guy could talk.
How did I miss that? heck it was right in front of me all those years. (it was up high though)
This sculpture sold for $600.00 not bad for where it sat really.
The buyer also got a Entry table that was more of a Chinese looking item.
Would guess that these items went to a Chinese restaurant maybe? who knows.
By themselves they were not tiki.

Here is the description of said item from sale trying to find photo....
Antique carved-wood 'Chinese Elder sculpture with Child' holding a Chinese bat. In Ancient Chinese society, a bat was a symbol of Happiness and Longevity - this hand carved sculpture is big, over 4ft tall! All wood with painted and applied gesso (like the picture frames from the 1920's) and then gilded with a gold tone finish.
Best photo I have for now.

"We heard that a cowboy from Wyoming bought the horse."
How would he get it home?

I think that it's good when items from the Kahiki go out of state really, this way
when people in Wyoming or wherever the stuff goes the buyer will say
"This is from the Kahiki" there is a far greater chance that the people that see
said item will not know about the Kahiki or even tiki for that matter and hear the tale
of the Kahiki thus spreading the word.

This is not a popular view here and I can see that point somewhat.
But if you have a view point of what would promote Kahiki/tiki far and wide wins.
This is what I would want to happen to stuff from my restaurant.
Heck we are really just caretakers of this stuff anyway.

Here is a look at part of the auction.
Saw a few people there but was surprised at the low turn out for the viewing, we
stayed for about two hours out of the three hour viewing.
It was nice to talk tiki to all who were there.

Met up with these old time Kahiki folks on the 24th at one wild party!(Soung, Tikiskip, Theang)
The last photo is of the guy who made this Kahiki fireplace repo.
(I only know him as the Violin guy he makes Violins too)
He has since told me he is going to build a bigger one that has four sides each with a different face.
This should be done in a year or so, time will tell.
_________________________________
¤(¯`*•.(¯`*•..TIKISKIP..•*´¯).•*´¯)¤
Lights for home and
commercial TIKI bars.
____________________

I just picked up a second postcard of the Luau dining scene at the Kahiki that I have not come across before. This one shows a close up view of the table with many of the guests sipping their cocktails. The waiter is cut out of the photo. The photographer on the shot must have said "OK everybody, drink up", which was probably a bonus!

Here is the standard postcard that I have.

The back of the cards are the same except for the card number at the bottom.

I used to know who was sitting at the table, I think it was Bill Sapp, Lee Henry and a bar manger
Bob Karst? maybe with a secretary.
But the pig has "KAHIKI" wrote in it using cherries too bad you can't really see it.
A side note is I never really looked at those chairs before but those are a style I have
not seen before.
And I have been to every sale they ever had, and even a sale they never had, to others that is.

Good a time as any to post this.....
Wentiki and I went to Mr Karsts home and bought some things one of those things was his home bar.
It was sad to take his bar out of his home kinda like a sign of the parties over thing.
A few short years later it looks like it was.
The Lemon Hart did have some rum in it that was not that good, so drink up that S#!T don't last.
His wife Mary was great!

Karst Sr. Robert William Karst, Sr., age 81, passed on February 12, 2013 at his home in the company of friends and family. Bob was preceded in death by his brothers Johnny, George, and daughter Kathy (Pabst) and is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mary; sister, Virginia (Hunter); sons, Robert Jr. and Patti, Tommy and Joyce, Danny (Mcquirt) and Patty; daughter, Sandy (Darrah); grandsons, Billy, Brandon, Shilo, Max, Sam, Alex, Patrick, Matthew; granddaughters, Britni, Stephanie; great-grandchildren, Logan, Lillie and Julian. Bob was raised in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in the restaurant business. The Karst Family owned and operated the Broad-Nel Restaurant and Bob learned from his father the joy of hospitality. A graduate of Gahanna High School and a veteran of the Korean War. Bob was fortunate to enjoy a very colorful life, a long time employee of the Kahiki and Wine Cellar restaurants in Columbus, Ohio. Bob enjoyed Elvis Presley, loved to play cards and was always there when you needed him. Bob retired in 1999 and spent the rest of his life in the company of his wife, Mary, his children and grandchildren. Friends are invited to attend a memorial on March 1, 2013 at EVANS FUNERAL HOME, 4171 E. Livingston Ave. Visitation from 3-4 p.m. Memorial service will be at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that you make a donation to Hospice or a charity of your choice . http://www.evansfuneralhome.net- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?pid=163239243#sthash.7GqGwAeN.dpuf

BERNARD C ALTENBACH was born 27 March 1904, got Social Security number 300-01-9607 (indicating Ohio,) and died 24 July 1995. BERNARDINE ...”

This Bernard Altenbach is not the architect who designed the Kahiki. This is actually his father, also named Bernard Altenbach. Bernie Altenbach, the Kahiki architect, was born in 1927 and died about 1998. The Altenbach listed above is my grandfather. Bernie the architect was my uncle. By the way, that photo you were describing—is it available for posting? I’d love to see it.

Hey Welcome NorthEnder!
Are you in Ohio?
Also have you talked to one of the many Kahiki book writers?

"that photo you were describing—is it available for posting? I’d love to see it."
I don't know what photo you are talking about?
But I will if I can.
For the most part I post what I have here on TC so all can see it and then a guy like
you sees it and then we get even more of the story.
Would like to meet and talk if you are local.
I'm not writing a book just have an interest in Kahiki.

From the ashes, Sapp and Henry begin construction one year later on a new attraction, valued with a cost of over a million dollars (eight million dollars after today's inflation). Here the Manager-to-be Hal Naguchi chats with Lee Henry under the construction of arches depicting a New Guinea meeting house.

No, I haven’t talked to any of the book writers. I may not be a very good candidate for that. I visited the Kahiki only once in my life—just a few days before it closed for good. My mother (Bernie the architect’s sister) wanted to visit the old place one more time. I was the youngest child and the Kahiki was a pretty upscale destination for little kids. I’ve seen it from the outside many times, but I didn’t get a chance to go inside much. My father didn’t have the money to splurge on dinners out for the family, so consequently, I was never able to visit. My older sister—who shared a birthday with Bernie—went with him for a birthday dinner back in the early to mid-70s and was fortunate to try the (nonalcoholic) Mystery Drink.

Bernie was kind of a mysterious uncle. He divorced, moved out to California and fell out of regular contact with the family. Some of his architectural work can still be seen around Columbus. For instance, he designed an apartment building across the street from Schmidt’s in German Village. He also did some work for Larry Flynt’s estate in Bexley. Later, he did more work for Larry out in California. I last saw him around 1996 or 97. He had been diagnosed with cancer and returned to Columbus for a mini-reunion. Shortly after that, he died in California.

Herman Leitwein, the builder of the Kahiki, is still in Central Ohio. I saw him just last summer. He’s about 90 years old, with poor hearing, and he’s in a wheelchair, but he still drives a big old pickup truck. His mind is still sharp as a tack and he has a wicked sense of humor.

(The server here won't let me access the photo. I'll have to check it out later, but thanks!)